Method and apparatus for winding yarns on a beam



1966 G. MANNING 3,263,297

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WINDING YARNS ON A BEAM Filed March 51, 1964 2Sheets-Sheet l TIC-3'11- I N VENTOR.

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G. MANNING METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WINDING YARNS ON A BEAM Filed March51, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

United States Patent 3,263,257 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR WINDING YARNS ONA BEAM George Manning, Gastonia, N.C., assignor to Cooker Machine 3;Foundry Company, Gastonia, N.C., a corporation of North Car-china FiledMar. 31, 1964, Ser. No. 356,293 6 Claims. (Cl. 2835) This inventionrelates to an improvement in machines ordinarily known as beamers orwarpers, employed in the textile industry to wind warped yarns ontobeams which are afterwards mounted on looms for weaving of the yarnsinto cloth of various kinds.

This invention constitutes an improvement over the apparatus disclosedin US. Patent 2,680,896, granted to Cocker Machine & Foundry Co. ofGastonia, North Carolina, assignee of H. W. Groce et al., on June 15,1954.

In greater detail, this invention relates to apparatus for maintainingsubstantially constant, the force required to rotate the beam whendrawing a plurality of warped yarns from a series of spools and windingthe yarns on the beam as the spools progressively empty. This inventionteaches a tensioning apparatus which progressively varies the amount oftension applied to a multiplicity of warped yarns as the yarn spools orpackages become depleted.

When a beam is being filled with yarns from certain types of creels,such as a revolving spool creel wherein the yarn is pulled from thepackage by revolving package itself, more tension will ordinarily berequired to pull the yarn from the empty package than will be requiredto pull it from the full package. This, of course, is due to thevariation in the torque arm resulting from the decrease in diameter ofthe yarn on the spool. For ex ample, if several hundred, six-inchdiameter spools supplying yarn to the beamer are arranged in a creel,the yarn is pulled from each spool by the beam at the same time. If eachspool has a six-inch outside diameter when full and a two-inch barreldiameter, the radius or torque arm when the yarn is first taken will bethree inches, whereas at the end, it will be one inch. Although thebearing friction will vary somewhat due to the difference in loadbetween the full and empty package, it has been experienced that almostinvariably the force required to withdraw yarn from the spool increasesas the spool progressively empties.

Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention to provideapparatus which applies varying amounts of tension to a multiplicity ofwarped yarns being wound on a beam from spools so that the forcerequired to pull the yarns from the spools remains substantiallyconstant while the spools become progressively depleted.

This object and other attendant advantages of this invention will becomemore apparent from the description set forth hereinbelow and fromreference to the attached drawings, wherein;

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic, fragmentary side view partly broken away andin section of one form of the tensioning apparatus of this invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the lines and arrows IIII ofFIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is a schematic drawing illustrating the relative positions ofcomponents of the tensioning device as yarns are built up on the beam.

3,263,297 Patented August 2, 1966 A preferred embodiment of thetensioning apparatus of this invention is shown in FIGURE 1 along withcomponents of a standard beam warper well known in the textile industry.A standard beam 10, rotatably mounted on structure not shown, ispartially shown in the empty condition with only a few windings of amultiplicity of individual yarns Y thereupon. Yarns Y comprise a sheetof separate yarns extending from a source such as a series of revolvingspools mounted in a creel (not shown but positioned to the right ofFIGURE 1), through the tensioning apparatus of this invention, generallydesignated by the numeral 4, around bar 6 to beam 10. The yarns Y arewound adjacent each other on beam 10 by rotation of the beam in thedirection of the arrow by drive means not shown.

A standard presser roll 12 mounted on shaft 13 is shown positionedcontiguous beam 10 and against the surface of the warped yarns woundthereon. Shaft 13 is journaled at both ends in a pair of slides 20 whichare mounted for free horizontal movement on a pair of fixed- 1y mountedparallel supporting shafts 14. Shafts 14 are supported at one end by apair of mountings 16 fixedly attached to base members 18. Shafts 14 aresupported at the other ends by another pair of mountings not shown.Presser roll 12 is mounted to rotate in the direction of the arrow whilepressed against the yarns being wound on beam 10 and to move laterallyon shafts 14 as the diameter of the wound yarns increases, the presserroll moving from the position indicated in FIGURE. 1 to a positionproximate mountings 16 when the beam is full.

A pair of racks 22 having evenly spaced teeth 23 are mounted on bothsides of the presser roll 12, each rack connected at one end to a slide20 by a union 24 and supported at the other end, for free lateralmovement in bracket 28 which is fixedly attached to a mounting 26 onshaft 14.

Referring now to FIGURE 2 in addition to FIGURE 1, a pair of pinions 30are fixedly mounted on opposing ends of a shaft 32 extending across thewidth of the warper, shaft 32 being rotatably mounted in bearings 33,33a. and 35, 35a fixed to the brackets 28. Pinions 30 engage teeth 23 onboth racks 22 thereby oscillating or rotating shaft 32 when racks 22move laterally in either direction. A sprocket 34, fixedly mounted onrotatable shaft 32, is connected by a chain 36 to a sprocket 38 fixedlymounted on rotatable shaft 40, which is supported adjacent both ends bya pair of bearings 42 mounted in flange supports 43. Supports 43 aresecured by bolts 44 to frame members 46. Frame members 46 are part ofthe basic warper machine and, in this instance, sup port at the distalend, bar 6 around which the yarns 7' pass to the beam 10.

A pair of substantially vertical supports 50 mounted on support members46 fixedly hold a first tension bar 54 by the elongated, small diameterend portions 52. A second tension bar 56, having elongated end portions58, is supported by a pair of movable arm supports 60. Each arm supportis provided with a collar 62 which is rotatably mounted on portion 52 ateach end of tension bar 54. A pair of positioning sprockets 64 arefixedly mounted on the collars 62 and a pair of driving chains 66entrain around sprockets 64 and sprockets 68 which are fixedly mountedadjacent the ends of shaft 40. By rotating sprockets 64, movement istransferred through collar 62 to movable supports 60 which causestension bar 56 to transcribe a limited are around the axis of bar 54 asindicated by the arrow and broken lines on FIGURE 1. The yarns Y passbetween the tension bars 54 and 56 and are in contact with a portion ofthe surface of each bar. The amount of contact and, hence, the frictiondeveloped depends upon the relative position of the bars and the angleat which the yarns are diverted from substantially a straight linecourse from the unwinding spools (not shown) to the bar 6.

The schematic sketch of FIGURE 3 illustrates the relative positions ofthe movable tension bar 56 in relation to the stationary tension bar 54as yarns Y are built up on beam 10. In greater detail, when yarns Y areinitially wound on beam 10, being pulled thereby from individual spoolsin the creel, beam is empty as illustrated by circle A and movabletension bar 56 is positioned in location E shown in full lines. Yarns Yare in contact with both bars 54, 56 for a portion of their circumstanceand pass between the bars as shown in full lines. The yarns, thereby,are diverted from substantially a single, straight plane of movementthrough an angle which decreases when bar 56 moves through its are awayfrom a position shown in full lines to, substantially, that within theplane of roll 54 and yarns Y, i.e., position H. In location E, bar 56diverts the sheet of yarns Y at the greatest angle, causes the yarns tobe in contact with a greater portion of the circumferential surface ofbars 54, 56 and thereby creates greater friction and tension on themoving yarns. As the yarns progressively build up on beam 10 to thepoint indicated by the circle B, tension bar 56 is moved by themechanism described above to position F whereby the yarns Y are divertedat a smaller angle from the straight path.

Subsequently, as the yarns build up on beam 10 to that represented bycircles C and D, tension bar 56 moves through positions F, G and toposition H. At this position of bar 56, the yarns Y are diverted theleast amount and, as the amount of surface of bars 54, 56 in contactwith the yarns Y is smallest, the tension or drag placed on the yarns isthe least amount. As the spools supplying the yarn progressively emptyand the moment arm decreases, the tension apparatus of this inventionprogressively applies less tension to the moving yarns so that the forcerequired to pull the yarns from the spool remains substantiallyconstant.

The operation of the preferred form of beamer yarn tensioning apparatusof this invention is substantially as follows.

After an empty beam 10 is inserted in the warping machine and amultiplicity of individual yarns are fed from a series of revolving fullspools in a creel around movable tension bar 56 and above tension bar54, around bar 6 to the beam 10, the winding begins. At this time,presser roll 12 is in the forward position as shown in FIGURE 1 tocontinually exert pressure against the yarns Y and cause them to buildup on the beam in their proper respective positions without overlapping.When presser roll 12 and racks 22 are in a forward position, pinions 30have been rotated clockwise causing drive chains 36 and 66 together withtheir supporting shafts and sprockets to move clockwise. This movementcauses the pair of supports 60 to locate bar 56 in the position shown inFIGURE 1 so as to tension the yarns to the greatest amount. For thereasons indicated above, as the spools are full, less force is requiredto withdraw yarn by revolving the spool so the tension apparatus isarranged to exert greatest tension at the beginning of the beam windingand progressively less as the amount of yarn wound on each spooldiminishes.

As the yarns continue to accumulate on beam 10, the presser roll rotatesand moves progressively in a lateral direction, causing racks 22 to movelaterally and to rotate pinions 30 counter-clockwise. Rotating pinions30 causes shaft 32, sprocket 34 and chain 36 to rotate in the samedirection. Shaft 40, sprockets 68 and chains 66 also rotate in acounter-clockwise direction, thereby rotating collars 62 and supportarms 60 mounted on stationary bar 54. By movement transferred throughthe above drive means, tension bar 56 is progressively moved from theposition indicated in solid lines in FIGURE 1 toward those positionsindicated in broken lines.

As the yarns Y continue to build upon the beam as indicated in FIGURE 3,presser roll 12 moves further from the axis of the beam, and the drivemeans described above causes tension bar 56 to move into substantiallythe horizontal position with bar 54, thereby reducing the tension placedon the yarns Y passing between the tension bars 54, 56.

By changing the relative size of sprockets 34, 3b, 64 and 68, thepositions of movable bar 56 and its rate of movement may be accuratelycontrolled and, thereby, the amount of drag placed on the yarns variedas the spools unwind. Thus, more or less tension can be exertedaccording to the size of the spools and the drive means of the beam.

Although the preferred form of the drive means for the tension bars isillustrated and described herein as comprising a pair of racks andpinions together with connected sprockets and shafts, it will beunderstood that various combinations of gears and driving chains canreadily be employed to accomplish the desired result. Similarly, it willbe understood that the relative positions of the two tension bars can bevaried, for example, tension bar 56 may be positioned to the left oftension bar 54 as said bars are shown in FIGURE 3, and that bar 56 wouldthereby transcribe an arc in that quadrant while still achieving theadvantages of this invention.

Also, the tension apparatus of this invention can effectively beemployed to tension yarns other than as part of the standard operationof a beam warping machine as said tension apparatus will find use in anyapparatus wherein yarns are pulled from revolving spools and wound on ashaft for further use.

Although this invention has been disclosed with reference to specificforms and embodiments thereof, it will be appreciated that a greatnumber of variations may be made without departing from the spirit orscope of this invention. For example, parts may be reversed, equivalentelements may be substituted for those specifically disclosed, andcertain features of the invention may be used independently of otherfeatures, all without departting from the spirit and scope of thisinvention as defined in the appended claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In an apparatus for winding yarns upon a beam, the combination whichcomprises means for rotating the beam,

sensing means adjacent said beam and arranged to sense the amount ofyarn wound up on the beam, and to react thereto,

variable tension means arranged in the course of travel of the yarn tothe beam and operative to exert controllable amounts of added drag tocontrol the tension of said yarn, and

control means operative in response to said react-ion of said sensingmeans for gradually decreasing the drag added to said yarn as the amountof yarn accumulated on said beam increases.

2. The apparatus defined in .claim 1, wherein said sensing meansincludes a presser roll positioned against the yarns building up on thebeam.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 1, wherein the variable tension meanscomprises a pair of tension drag bars arranged substantially transverseto the yarns and positioned in spaced relation to each other.

4. The apparatus defined in claim 3, wherein means are provided forsupporting one of said bars substantially stationary and moving meansare provided for moving the other of said bars to various positionsdiverting the yarns away from a straight path.

5. The apparatus defined in claim 4, wherein said moving means -isconstructed and arranged to move said other drag bar arcuately aroundthe substantially stationary bar.

6. In a method of Winding a plurality of yarns Warp- Wise upon a beam,the steps which comprise controllably applying a common tension to allof said yarns as the winding operation is begun, sensing the amount ofyarn accumulating on the beam, and gradually reducing the amount ofapplied tension as the amount of yarn accumulated on the beam increases.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 0 DONALD W.PARKER, Primary Examiner.

ROBERT R. MACKEY, Examiner.

L. K. RIMRODT, Assistant Examiner.

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR WINDING YARNS UPON A BEAM, THE COMBINATION WHICHCOMPRISES MEANS FOR ROTATING THE BEAM, SENSING MEANS ADJACENT SAID BEAMAND ARRANGED TO SENSE THE AMOUNT THE YARN WOUND UP ON THE BEAM, AND TOREACT THERETO, VARIABLE TENSION MEANS ARRANGED IN THE COURSE OF TRAVELOF THE YARN TO THE BEAM AND OPERATIVE TO EXERT CONTROLLABLE AMOUNTS OFADDED DRAG TO CONTROL THE TENSION OF SAID YARN, AND CONTROL MEANSOPERATIVE IN RESPONSE TO SAID REACTION OF SAID SENSING MEANS FORGRADUALLY DECREASING THE DRAG ADDED TO SAID YARN AS THE AMOUNT OF YARNACCUMULATED ON SAID BEAM INCREASES.